Florida judge grants DOJ motion to unseal Epstein grand jury transcripts

A federal judge in Florida has granted the Trump administration’s motion to unseal grand jury transcripts from the initial federal investigation of Jeffrey Epstein in the mid-2000s. The order also grants the government’s request to modify any protective orders in place that would inhibit public disclosure. U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith – a Trump appointee – determined that the language of the recently-enacted Epstein Transparency Act "overrides" federal rules prohibiting the public disclosure of grand jury materials. “The Act applies to unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials that relate to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell,” Smith wrote in an order Friday. “Consequently, the later-enacted and specific language of the Act trumps Rule 6’s prohibit